


The Chef - A Written in the Stars side-story

by phoenixwaller



Series: Written In The Stars Verse [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Cooks in space, M/M, Outer Space, POV Outsider, mentions of Victuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 16:06:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14596659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixwaller/pseuds/phoenixwaller
Summary: Chef had weathered his share of space battles and accidents, and nothing fazes him anymore.Though he does like to think of a nice retirement.





	The Chef - A Written in the Stars side-story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [evakaname](https://archiveofourown.org/users/evakaname/gifts).



> So evakaname asked for a Chef's perspective of the Written in the Stars universe, and I thought it might be a fun challenge. 
> 
> So here's a Chef ficlet. 
> 
> He's actually based on an unnamed Yuri on Ice character. Let's see if you can guess which one.

He’d been called Chef for so long he hardly had use for his real name anymore. He’d worked his way through the ranks quickly, and had been quite young when he was first given command of a kitchen. Since then he was always known simply as Chef.

It was the only command he wanted. He’d leave the running of a ship, or even the engine room to those who liked that sort of thing. His place was manning the stoves, and ensuring that his crew put out the dishes that nourished and sustained those on the edge of human exploration.

He’d been in deep space longer than almost anybody else on the ship, and would likely retire in a few more years. He’d survived battles and accidents too numerous to count, and where once he might have felt fear, he now only saw the duty at the other end.

No matter what happened, people still needed to eat. His job didn’t stop just because it got hard.

“Good morning Victor,” he said to the captain almost every morning as the silver-haired youngster stopped by for either tea or coffee, depending on his mood. He was one of the few people on the ship allowed to address the captain by his first name.

Then the captain was off, and depending on how early it was it was either time to start lunch prep, or begin serving breakfast.

As was custom from long before man took his first tentative steps beyond the safety of Earth, as a chef he was the first in the kitchen each day, and the last to leave… save for the graveyard crew.

It was during one of his late nights, working out the menu for the following week, that he happened to look out into the mess. The survivor from the other ship, Yuri, probably the only person on board that was technically older that he was, was sitting in the window. Even from across the room he could see that the man had been crying.

Chef walked back into the kitchen and pressed a button on the panel. “Chef to First Officer Chris.”

“Chris here.”

“I know the captain and that new fellow have had some sort of falling out, but he’s down here crying. I’ve seen you talking to him, and I think he needs a friend.”

“Thanks Chef,” Chris said. “Let me know if he leaves alone before I can get someone down there.”

“Can do.”

Chef sat at a counter where he could see the doors but not be seen from the window and worked on his menu on a pad. He loved this part the most, thinking about the unique dietary needs of hundreds of people, and presenting them with menu choices that fit them while maintaining the discipline necessary to serve so many at once. .

He had a hard time containing a chuckle when he saw Victor run in, a desperate look on his face. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who thought the captain and Yuri made a good match. Concern over the other man taken care of he moved back to check that everything was ready for the graveyard shift, and for his own main crew to start work again the next morning. He was carrying a serving tray for the stewards back to where it belonged when he looked out into the mess again.

Chef promptly dropped the tray as he fought to keep from laughing. Victor was kissing Yuri, and with the desperation of one starved for touch. Luckily Yuri seemed to be returning the kisses with equal fervor.

He ducked as heads turned toward him, and made his way back to the kitchen while soft voices discussed relocating. He only returned to retrieve the tray when he heard the swish of the doors. Finally free, he laughed at the absurdity of them dancing around each other for so long.

* * *

 

Chef noticed a change in Victor immediately. The coffee stopped in favor of tea, and his breakfast trays started going out with meals for two rather than one.

Meanwhile he cooked, and sometimes allowed himself to imagine retirement.

He couldn’t imagine not running a kitchen, but he thought a smaller place where there were only a few seats and a handful of dedicated customers might be the way to go.

“Maybe a place near a river… or the ocean,” he muttered one morning as he was preparing a marinade. “I could fish in the mornings, buy what I can’t catch, and close when I run out of ingredients.”

His pastry chef came over to confirm the items on the dessert menu for the day, then made off with his prep cook to slice fruit. Chef didn’t mind, dumping the meat in the marinade he set it to rest and took over preparing the vegetables for the stock.

* * *

 

The ship lurched in a way that Chef knew only meant trouble.

“Hold on!” he yelled to his staff. “Knives in self-latching drawers if you have time! Otherwise on the floor and try to keep one foot on them so they don’t go flying.”

The sound of drawers slamming shut echoed through the kitchen. “Computer! Stoves off. Lower splash barriers!”

Transparent partitions lowered from the ceiling around the stoves, ensuring that hot foods wouldn’t be flung around.

Chef didn’t know why the engines had engaged, but he knew enough to know that no matter the reason, it was going to get bumpy.

The first impact was enough to confirm that his intuition had been right. Hot water splattered against the splash barriers, and trays of vegetables in various states of prep slid off work tables and onto the floor. Another impact and he and his staff were thrown the other direction.

There was a moment of pride as Chef watched his crew weather the jarring of the ship back and forth, then the engines engaged again.

“Brace yourselves,” he called. “It feels like we’re trying to move through this.”

The ship rolled to one side, then the other. Another couple impacts and the lights flickered out.

Emergency lighting came on just as Chef took the chance of releasing his hold. “Is everybody ok?”

There were groans, but the general assessment seemed to be that his crew had mostly suffered bruises. He called out everybody’s name to make sure that nobody was unconscious, and had just finished when main lighting came back online.

Chef looked around and sighed. “Ok everybody. We’re now officially behind schedule. How much prep did we lose?”

“Almost two hours,” one of the prep cooks replied with a sigh.

Chef nodded. “We better hustle then. I want us plating only an hour behind schedule, and we’ve got to clean up this mess first.”

Groans sounded around the room.

“Chop chop people…”

Chef nodded as his crew got to work, some cleaning the mess on the floor and stoves, others hauling out new trays of vegetables to start prepping again.

“Guess I should let the bridge know…” Chef said as he turned toward the communication panel.

As the call ended Chef turned back to his work.

As much excitement as there was in deep space, it was almost too much for somebody his age.

“Definitely a small restaurant in a town by the sea, where I can fish for ingredients in the mornings…” he muttered as he watched a dustpan full of chopped onions get dumped into the garbage.

“Chef?” one of the prep-cooks asked.

“Just thinking about the future,” he replied with a grin. “Now get on those onions.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I appreciate any comments, kudos or shares. 
> 
> Did you guess the character? It's the fisherman from the bridge. 
> 
> Head over to tumblr and yell at me about Yuri On Ice at [phoenixwaller.tumblr.com](http://phoenixwaller.tumblr.com)
> 
> Find my other YoI fanfics on my AO3 profile at <http://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixwaller/profile>


End file.
